The Path of Destiny
by Miniangelash
Summary: (OoT background) Zelda has to keep Link safe while not letting on who she really is. How long can she last as his protector. What?! Impa's dead?! R/R Please!
1. Surprise Attack

The Path of Destiny   
  
Chapter 1  
  
In the pitch blackness of the night, an evil feeling spread through the air. "Sheik, we must hurry! Wake up!" Impa whispered as she shook Zelda, who immediately woke. Zelda instinctively reached for her knife, which was conveniently tucked under her pillow, and had the naked tip of her blade at Impa's throat before she had even opened her eyes. Impa smiled with pride as Zelda sheathed her knife. Impa used their shared sign language to repeat that they should hurry. Zelda's fingers flashed in a quick question, "Did you get everything?" At Impa's nod, Zelda slid out of bed, unconsciously pulling her pillow under the wollen blanket as she went to make it look like a tucked in body. It wouldn't fool those monsters that could sense body heat or a person's presence, but it might just buy them a few precious seconds.  
  
Zelda followed Impa outside after picking up her pack Impa had set aside for her, using her training to move quickly and quietly. It crossed her mind that it must be a very serious situation if Impa had called her Sheik. Impa always called her Princess Zelda in private, unless there was the chance of being overheard. Seven years ago, when they had first gone into hiding, Impa had put Zelda throuh many grueling drills which trained her to wake up instantly and alertly. "If this was a drill, Impa wouldn't have called me Sheik, and shw would have stopped it by now. So this must be real," thought Zelda. A spark of excitement coursed through her at the thought. She couldn't wait to try out her newest combat skills on someone besides Impa. Slowly but surely, Zelda had begun to surpass Impa by melding techniques she'd learned from the guards with her Sheikah training. The guards at the castle had wanted to impress her and make her feel safe by showing her their techniques using spears and hand to hand combat. Zelda had modified some of their spear techniques to be effective dagger attacks. She had tried them out on Impa, giving her a few surprise nicks and close calls.  
  
Impa's hand signal to stop brought Zelda's attention back to the present. She also told Zelda, "Mind your eyes." Zelda realized the situation was indeed quite serious at that. She watched in fascination as Impa drew her sword from it's scabbard she kept on her back during all waking hours. The scabbard was very unique, having a distinct eye symbol on it. The blade had been a gift to Impa, and she treasured it above all else. Some brave and gossipy souls said that Impa's husband had gone mad and that Impa had slain him with his own sword, the one he had given to her, the one she currently held in her hands. Was it a trick of th elight or did Zelda really see blood dripping off the tip?  
  
Zelda never got a chance to check because something lept out at them at that moment. Thought ceased and training took over. Zelda had been drilled so much that her counter attack was like instinct, but Impa stopped her. Impa rapidly sent her hand signals with her left hand as she distracted the monster with her right. "Monster too strong, go without me, I distract." When Zelda tried to protest, Impa continued, "Link will need you as guide. I will be fine, but need Link's help! Wait at Temple of Time!" This wasn't enough to make Zelda leave. After all those years of hiding and watching each other's backs, Impa had become her only parent, friend, and confidante. At that moment, nothing would have torn her away from Impa's side. Except for one thing. The fear and desperation in Impa's eyes convinced Zelda. She finally realized that all these years of hiding would be wasted if she died before she could help Link. And Link didn't know what to do. Zelda put a hand on Impa's shoulder and squeezed before she ran away to wait at the Temple of Time for Link to arrive. "Please Gods, take care of Impa! Give her strength to last until Link may help her!" Zelda slid from shadow to shadow as she wondered when Link would come.  
  
After traveling a few miles away, Zelda nimbly climbed up a tree without ruffling a single branch, not a single leaf twitched to betray her presence. She looked off into the distance, back to the place where she and Impa had been hiding for the past seven years, Kakariko Village. "Well, Impa hadn't really been hiding, considering everyone in the village knew she was there," Zelda thought with a smirk. All Impa had done was ask everyone to keep quiet about her presence, and they respected her wishes. Impa had opened the village to common people, so they all loved her to some degree. No one there followed Ganandorf, so they had been surrounded by friends. All Impa had to do was disguise Zelda, which she'd done by giving her new clothes, a new lifestyle, and even a new name. She'd even become one of the Sheikahs, having gone through the Ritual of the Blood.  
  
Zelda let her mind drift through her memories as she scoured the land around her from the top of the tree. Seven years ago, Impa had taken her to an underground cavern, so big that their footsteps echoed off the ceiling. The room was pitch black, except a strange red glow illuminated the middle. Directly in the middle of the room was a pedestal made of rosewood with a vial filled with some red looking liquid sitting on the middle of that. Upon closer inspection, the pedestal had carvings of a trange looking open eye, and the vial was shaped as an eye. Impa walked ever and stood at the opposite end of the pedestal. She reverently picked up the vial and carefully lifted the lid, which was cleverly concealed making it invisible to anyone unfamiliar with it. The lid was very thin and long, Zelda gasped when Impa methodically sliced open her fingers. She had removed her gauntlets when Zelda wasn't looking, but Zelda didn't seem to notice. All she could think of was that she'd never seen Impa's hands before, they'd always been covered by her black gauntlets. Her hands were covered in slash scars, obviously she'd done this ritual many times. Zelda had wanted to cry as she watched IMpa make a fist and let the blood drip into the vial. "I'm adding my blood to the other Sheikahs blood in here. That way, there is always a generous supply of Sheikah blood, and even some variety," Impa told her quietly. As she spoke, Impa proceeded to repeat this with her other hand, also covered in scars.  
  
"Now Princess, this is going to hurt, but I swear it is neccessary. Look at me," Impa commanded as she let her left fist drip. Zelda looked up at her with tears streaming down her face. "The poor child," Impa thought sympathetically, "she has such a hard road ahead of her." Impa pushed her thoughts aside and solemnly asked Zelda, "Do you trust me, Princess?" When Zelda nodded, Impa smiled. "Then just concentrate on that trust." Impa quickly bandaged her hands and slipped her black gauntlets back on. "Alright, now just close your eyes and concentrate on your trust."   
  
Zelda took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She thought of all the times Impa had helped her, picked her up when she'd fallen, playing her lullabye until she fell back asleep when she woke up with terrible visions, and even had taken her away to save her from Ganandorf. She opened her eyes and was astonished to find her hands already bandaged. "There, that wasn't too bad was it?" Impa asked gently. Zelda smiled and shook her head. She could feel her fingers throbbing faintly, but it wasn't as bad as she had expected. "Alright, now I want you to take a sip of this." Zelda's smile vanished and her nose scrunched up as she shook her head violently.  
  
"Impa, please tell me that's a joke." Zelda looked up as Impa sighed. "I don't want to disappoint her," Zelda thought to herself. So she took a sip of the vial. She almsot dropped it as everything went red. "Impa! My eyes!" Zelda screamed as her head began to pound. It felt like her eyes were burning, and the red intensified.   
  
"Zelda, listen to me! Calm down, Princess! Take a deep breath." Zelda did as Impa instructed and the pain lessened some. "I need you to close your eyes and concentrate on seeing white." Zelda again did as Impa instructed and was relieved when all the pain faded, except from her hands of course. She slowly opened her eyes, wary of the blinding red from moments ago. "When you want to see normally, do what you just did. But in places like this, where you are surrounded by darkness, you can use your Sheikah sight to see through the dark. But you must be careful when you use it. Look at me, Princess." Zelda glanced over to where Impa was, and gasped. Impa's red eyes were glowing in the dark! "Your enemies can see your eyes. But if you are running away in the dark, then you will be able to see where you are going. To do this, close your eyes and concentrate on seeing black. Go ahead Princess."  
  
Zelda closed her eyes and projected black onto the back of her eyelids. She felt her eyes almost shift, and she knew she would see the red again. This time though, she opened her eyes slowly and carefully, and began to get used to her new ability. She laughed as she looked around, finally able to see the ceiling and walls. Her laugh echoed back to her, but it almost sounded mocking. She stopped laughing, but still smiled. "Alright Princess, that is a very special Sheikah skill, not the only one, but it is quite unique. Now, your body is also affected. You will become stronger and faster. We will begin training in the morning. Any questions?" Impa gazed at her Princess, pride filling her heart. The girl would grow up to make the Sheikahs very proud. "Impa, are my eyes always red now, like yours?" Impa nodded at Zelda's question. Zelda thought for a moment before asking shyly, "Will I look like you when I'm older?" Impa's face registered her surprise as she asked gently, "What do you mean Princess?" Zelda gestured toward Impa's chest, and Impa laughed at her innocence. Seeing Zelda's confusion and hurt, she hastened to reassure her. "Every girl goes through changes as she becomes a woman. Developing breasts is one step, but there are many other things as well. I will tell you them when you are older, alright Princess?" Zelda smiled and nodded, excited about someday becoming a woman.  
  
"This is not the time to be taking a trip down memory lane!" Zelda thought as she stared at Kakariko Village. She almost cried out as an explosion occurred near the river close to the village. "Impa must have lured the monster down there so as to not damage the village," Zelda thought as tears clouded her vision. Sheikahs had knowledge of a secret attack that emitted a large explosion just like the one Zelda had seen. It was a sacrificial attack, it guaranteed the death of the opponent, but it also killed the Sheikah. Impa had just killed herself to stop that monster. The monster had been extremely strong, Zelda had sensed it. She'd never seen one before, or she might have known it's weakness. Zelda clenched her fists and looked down at them. She had taped her fingers, it covered her pink scars so no one asked embarrassing questions. "Oh Impa! You've taught me so much, but I still need you!" Zelda screamed in her mind. She wiped her eyes, and told herself to wait for a better time to mourn. She quickly said a prayer for Impa's soul and ran lightly and quickly toward the Temple of Time.   
  
A/N: Please R/R! And I don't own Zelda or anything at all. This is the only disclaimer for the whole story! 


	2. The Temple of Time

The Path of Destiny  
  
Chapter 2  
  
Zelda concentrated on seeing black, enabling her Sheikah ability to see in the dark and her eyes glow red, as she neared the outside walls of the little town. In the distance, she could see the looming shape of the castle back behind the market place. She swallowed the lump in her throat that rose everytime she saw Ganandorf's castle. It was no longer the same castle she had grown up in, the huge spikes poking out in all directions giving it a menacing look. The old castle had been pure white, shining hope down upon the land of Hyrule. The castle that now stood there spread dread. She couldn't look at it without feeling a shudder go down her spine. She drew her eyes away, and looked in front of her. The sight was not a pleasant greeting. The drawbridge that covered the moat was broken in two, and the wall surrounding the market place was crumbling. All the people had long ago left the little town, and it had fallen into a state of disrepair. It hurt her heart to see the devastation that Ganandorf had wrought.  
  
She slowly crept over the broken draw-bridge that lead to the market place in front of the castle. She missed all the guards and happy people. She even missed all the noise they had made. It seemed longer than seven years since Impa had taken her away, fleeing from Ganandorf. Vaguely she wondered what had become of her father. They never had been very close, he was always too busy with his duties as King of Hyrule. She doubted that he was alive, but strangely she felt cut off from any pain that thought might have brought.  
  
Strange moaning sounds reached her pointed ears, and Zelda immediately dropped into an attack stance. The moaning seemed to be coming from the main square, through which she had to go to reach the Temple of Time. Zelda peeked around the side of a building, using her Sheikah ability to see in the dark, looking in at the square. "Well, that's where the moaning is coming from," Zelda thought as she counted the figures, of which there were eight in all. She identified the monsters as Redead, creatures that were just the dried husk of human bodies, so badly decomposed that no individual features could be made out. They moved slowly, but once they looked at their prey and screamed, the sound froze the poor animal in its tracks. Then the Redead would pounce on it, and start slowly and painfully draining its life force away. "This is going to be fun," Zelda thought sarcastically and prepared herself. She tightened her pack closer to her body and closed her eyes after having made sure she hadn't been spotted.  
  
"What I wouldn't give to be able to use some magic," she thought and sighed. If she used her magic, then she could be found. Ganandorf could trace her magic to where she cast at, unfortunately. So that left her with physical attacks. She began to meditate, willing herself to focus her mind. She opened her inner self's eyes, and gasped. There, in front of her, was Impa, who was oddly glowing. "Impa!" Zelda yelled and ran over to her. Tears of happiness fell from her face as she reached for her. "I knew you were alive! I just knew it!" But there was nothing there, only empty air. Zelda fell to her knees in shock as her hands past straight through Impa.   
  
"Princess," the ghost whispered sadly, "I'm sorry. We've met in this meditative place, where we've always met. Sadly, I am a ghost in here as well." Zelda looked around at her familiar surroundings. They were in a brightly lit glade with animals frolicking around them. This place existed only in their minds. They had first started coming here together in their dreams. Impa had said it was another Sheikah ability, except it had melded with Zelda's ability to have visions. The Sheikah's were able to have very vivid similar dreams, but with Zelda, they were somehow always brought together in the same place, and were able to interact with each other. They had used this strange ability to their advantage, Impa had trained Zelda in magic usage here. Since it wasn't a real place, she couldn't be traced by using her magic.   
  
"Princess," Impa whispered again. Zelda raised her tearfilled eyes up to her friend. "You can bring me back, but-" Zelda bounded back up off the ground and interrupted, "I can? How?!"   
  
"But you can't yet, Princess." Zelda stared at Impa. "Why not?" Zelda asked imperiously.  
  
"You have to use magic in the real world to do it. You must wait. After Link has awakened all the other Sages, then you may revive me. I will see you again to tell you how. But you've delayed too long. I want you to close your eyes now and open them in the real world to see a present for you. Take care of yourself, my Princess, until next time."  
  
Zelda reached out, and Impa did likewise. For one second, Zelda thought she felt her, but the feeling was so fleeting she couldn't be sure. She smiled at Impa through her tears before closing her eyes once more. She took a deep breath and let it out before slowly opening her real eyes, still using her Sheikah ability to see in the dark.   
  
There, lying on the ground at her feet, was Impa's sword. Zelda fought back more tears as she bent and picked it up. She knew Impa had to of used magic to get the sword to her, but the magic would be traced to where Impa had died, she she didn't have to rush to get away. "Thank you, Impa," she whispered, as she unsheathed the sword and attached the scabbard to her back as Impa had taught her.  
  
She closed her eyes and returned her sight to normal after memorizing the location of all the Redead. Then she slid around the corner of the building without making a sound. None of the Redead turned toward her, so she continued to make her way to the Temple. The moanings got louder as she continued to stealthily pass two Redead. Just when she thoght the coast was clear, one of the Redead she had just past began to stand, signaling she had been spotted. Luckily, her normal sight had adjusted enough for her to detect its movement.  
  
Zelda sprinted past another pair of Redead, but was paralyzed as another screamed at her. She closed her eyes and focused her concentration on blocking out the Redead's screams. After a few seconds she could move again. She opened her eyes to find that same Redead blocking her way. She charged in, jabbing with her sword. The Redead was too slow to block, so she continued slicing at the creature until it fell to the ground. The sickining odor of rotting flesh made her gag, but she kept hacking at her attacker. As she finished off the first creature, she could hear the shuffling of the Redead's feet behind her getting closer to her.   
  
She stabbed the creature one last time, just to make sure that it was dead, and started to turn around. Before she could finish turning, a Redead pounced on her back, wrapping it's legs tightly around her neck. Zelda began to choke and she could feel her life being drained painfully from her body as she struggled to release herself. "I must act quickly while I still have the strength!" she thought to herself. She swiftly lifted her sword straight up and impaled the Redead on it. Having done this, she instantly felt her life energy returning, giving her the power to swung around quickly. The Redead flew off the end of her sword, landing directly on its comrades. They all slowly started to clumsily rise, all their limbs were tangled making them even slower. By the time they stood, Zelda was already safely out of range.  
  
She quickly ran up the steps and paused to sheath her sword before entering the Temple of Time. The building looked impressive from the outside, but on the inside it loooked grandiose. Numerous huge columns held up the ceiling, which was so high it was always in shadow. A few strangely intact stained glass windows located high on the walls allowed light in, and the floor sparkled where the light hit it. Zelda quietly entered the building, and walked toward the pedestal located near the back of the entrance room. She knelt in front of it and said a quick prayer for the future of Hyrule. Slowly, she stood up and ran her fingers across the pedestal. There were three hollows that held the Sacred Stones that Link had collected seven long years ago. As she watched, they floated out of the pedestal to sparkle proudly in the air, having risen out because of her royal touch. Until she left, they would stay aloft, defiantly twirling and sending sparkles of light around the dark room.   
  
She smiled and continued past the pedestal, into a room that until seven years ago had been sealed shut. Link had opened the Door of Time, the door to this room, by collecting the Sacred Stones and playing the Song of Time with her Ocarina in front of the pedestal. Zelda had never seen the room beyond the Door of Time, so she cautiously went through. In the center of the room a raised platform drew all the light to it. Zelda slowly approached it, and saw where the Master Sword had been kept. She knew that Link had pulled it from the stone it had rested in, but she didn't understand why he'd disappeared. She had asked Impa, but Impa had been strangely silent on the matter. "I guess Link is coming back soon, otherwise Impa wouldn't have insisted I come here," Zelda thought as she sat down. She took off her pack and went through its contents.  
  
There were extra clothes, food, bandages, herbs for medicinal purposes, deku nuts, a flint and stone for fire, another stone for sword sharpening, and her lyre Impa had made for her. Zelda smiled as she pulled the lyre out because Impa had considered the lyre a neccessity, but hadn't told her until recently why. "You must teach the Hero of Time the warping songs, and you might as well do it in style!" Impa's voice echoed through her brain, making Zelda sigh because Impa only existed in her mind for now. "Only for a little while," she whispered to herself. She set the lyre back inside her pack after lightly strumming a few notes of a soothing melody.  
  
She pulled out the clothes and began to change. "It's not right to meet the Hero of Time in these rags," she thought and smiled at her small vanity. She looked like a boy, having everything covered except her eyes and nose, but she still wanted to look as nice as the situation would allow. The clothes she was changing out of were worn and smelled strongly of blood and sweat. She vaguely noticed her body as she changed, seeing scars crisscrossing it from old wounds.  
  
Slowly she began to unwrap the bandages she had wrapped tightly to her chest to flatten her breasts. Impa had long ago told her that she must look and act like a boy, which would be a painful process when she was older. As her budding breasts had become noticeable, Impa had shown her how to bind herself, which was so tight that it was painful no matter how many times she did it. But now it was only painful when she first bound them up, and when she unbound them.   
  
She dropped the bandages to the floor, doing her best not to wince as she quickly bent over to grab new ones. The strange sensation of her heavy breasts hanging down and swaying slightly because of her arm movements made her pause. "What an odd feeling!" Zelda thought, then blushed furiously. If Link came, he would find her totally nude, staring in wonderment at her own breasts. She quickly bound her breasts in the clean cloth, only remotely flinching at the pain. They would throb for a few minutes, and then the pain would subside. She then slipped on her blue bodysuit made from a high density fiber (A/N: something strong but light, couldn't think of anything else that sounded okay, so sorry if that's technically not right :P) to add some armor to her body. More than once it had stopped her from having a muscle completely sliced off.   
  
She shrugged into her her gray chest peice with the Sheikah eye symbol on it, which had an added feature. The eye had a long singular tear drop attached to it. Impa had said that her chest peice must be unique to herself, and so that is the alteration she had made. The chest peice added armor, and also helped to conceal what the bindings couldn't completely flatten.   
  
Zelda quickly combed her hair, being careful not to scrape her sensitive pointed ears, before wrapping it up under a turban like hat which fit closely to her head. Slipping on her purple shoulder, elbow, and thigh guards, along with her blue gauntlets, Zelda wondered if Link would recognize her. Her mind scoffed at the thought, but her heart secretly hoped he would. She knew that if he did recognize her, then his quest would be that much harder. She sighed as she retaped her fingers, covering the scars from the blood ritual, and also giving her better ability to grip her sword. "I don't even remotely resemble what I did before. I don't even think the same way," she thought as she completed that.   
  
Her stomach growled a demand, so she broke off some bread to eat as she gathered up her discarded clothes. After repacking everything back into her pack, she sat down again with a heavy sigh. Zelda wasn't used to being idle, Impa had made sure of that. She reached over to grab the stone for sword sharpening, when the room began to brighten drastically. She grabbed up her pack and stood up quickly. She hid behind a pillar and waited for her eyes to adjust to the brightness before peeking around. Inside the circle of blindingly bright white light, was a tall figure, with his back to her. She could barely make out a green tunic and blond hair. Zelda's mind and heart raced, for the Hero of Time had finally arrived.  
  
  
A/N: Alright, I'm going into the army and off to basic training. So yes, it will be awhile before I add another chapter. But if when I get back this story still has no reviews, I'm taking it down. Please, if you've bothered to read it, bother to review. All constructive comments/suggestions are greatly appreciated. 


End file.
